FUS3 represses CLN1 and CLN2 and in concert with KSS1 promotes signal transduction

Abstract

FUS3 is functionally redundant with KSS1, a homologous yeast protein kinase, for a step(s) in signal transduction between the beta subunit of the guanine nucleotide binding protein (G protein), STE4, and the mating type-specific transcriptional activator, STE12. Either FUS3 or KSS1 can execute this function; when neither gene encoding these protein kinases is present, signal transduction is blocked, causing sterility. This functional redundancy is strain dependent; some standard laboratory strains (S288C) are kss1-. FUS3 has additional functions required for cell cycle arrest and vegetative growth that do not overlap with KSS1 functions. FUS3 mediates cell cycle arrest during mating through transcriptional repression of two G1 cyclins (CLN1 and CLN2) and through posttranscriptional inhibition of a third G1 cyclin (CLN3). FUS3 is also required for vegetative growth in haploid strains dependent upon CLN3 for cell cycle progression but is not required in strains dependent upon either CLN1 or CLN2, suggesting a functional divergence among the three G1 cyclins. The diverse roles for FUS3 suggest that the FUS3 protein kinase has multiple substrates, some of which may be shared with KSS1.